Product Reviews/ Up-dates!

Hey Everyone!

I was going to post my latest creation today. I have all the supplies for it ready to go, but it is extremely rainy here in Georgia today. The project requires paint, paint apparently does not do well in humid weather (at least that is what my dad has always told me), so I am going to do the project next week. Today, I am going to switch some things up! Anything goes when it comes to girly stuff in this blog. I am going to post about my favorite make-up products. I narrowed them down to two.

I am kind of a make-up snob. I like fancy expensive make-up. I can't help it! I am going to talk about two products that I recommend, that do wonders on your face. Both, I purchased from Sephora (I LOVE this store).


Tarte: Light-Medium Beige Mineral Foundation:

"I really want a good mineral foundation that is not Bare Minerals," I told the Sephora sales rep. That is when the she recommended to me Tarte. Oh my gosh, I love this stuff. It is a natural mineral lose powder foundation infused with Amazonian clay. They do not call it the airbrush foundation for nothing! This powder literally takes all the flaws out of my face, while still feeling very light. I use a medium sized brush to put it on. Start with the brush from the edges of your face and in a circular motion work your way to the center of your face. Always choose a foundation a shade lighter than your face to avoid that infamous line. Also, do not hesitate to put some on your neck! I give this stuff an A+. I wear it everyday, and I am not sure I could ever switch. Cost: $36






Marc Jacobs: Blacquer Eye Liner
I have a story behind this product. I was in Boston on a business trip over the summer with my last internship with Liberty Mutual Insurance. Great job, but I would never want to do insurance sales again. Also, Boston was the most amazing city EVER. I want to go back so bad! Okay I am off topic, back to my story.

Well I was in Boston, I had a moment of down time before I had to be back at the corporate office or was it the dinner cruise? Hmm, can't remember. Well, anyways I had downtime so of course I went shopping down Newberry Street. This street was like the Rodeo Drive of Boston. A fashion girls dream! They had Chanel,  Burberry, Marc Jacobs, Diane Von Furstenburg, and just every high-end store you could imagine. I went into to Marc Jacobs and bought a gorgeous gold necklace. When talking to the sales representative working there, she told me all about Marc Jacob's new line of beauty products. She just went on and on about them. She made me sample this lip gloss which I just ran out of, which I need to buy more, so I can put it on here as well! She also recommended this eye liner as you see above. She said it is the best eye liner on the market. I have to agree. This eye liner is something else. It does not smudge and stays in place all day long. Not even water can get it off, you have to have make-up remover to get this stuff off. It has a twist up top that seems to never run out. It is so easy to use with its tip that it makes doing the cat eye a breeze. This is seriously the best eye liner on the market. I bought the lip gloss on the spot in Boston, but as soon as I got home I went to Sephora to get the eye liner. Cost: $25

Get these products here: Sephora

Now, I just want to share some exciting updates going on in my life!

First, I mentioned my start-up, hair and make-up business. Ya'll are kind of getting to start my journey with me. I just finished buying all my supplies last week! Here is the picture of all my wonderful new hair product supplies. Including 3 curling irons, a straightener, bobby pins, brushes, hair spray, heat protectant, styling gel, and so much more! I got almost all of this at Ulta, my secret for the brushes and combs-I got them from the dollar store. Hey, if the dollar store has it I am going there to find the best deal! I just love looking at this picture of all my supplies. I cannot wait to use this stuff at my first wedding gig in April!                                                                                                                                 Today, I spent most of my day getting some of the administrative stuff, up and running for the business. I made business cards which were adorable. I developed the Facebook page, an email account, and a company logo. It is right below. We, me and my partner Leah (she does the make-up), are calling ourselves...

Let me know what ya'll think of the name. I am so excited to finally put this hobby and doing all my friends and families hair over the years to good use! I will definitely have to show ya'll my work soon!

My Facebook page is still really rough because we are working out details still, but go check it out and like it here: Dolled Up's Facebook Page

Now, I have exciting but not promising news. One thing led to another at my St. Patrick's Day Georgia Aquarium work event on Saturday, yesterday. I was talking with a volunteer when she started asking about my schooling and experience. Well, she is one of the decision makers for a marketing manager position they have open at Georgia Tech. She was very interested in me applying and sending her my resume and cover letter. I have been desperately trying to figure out what I am doing when I graduate in less than two months. My internship at the aquarium is over in the end of May, and I will need to start a big girl job. It was like the stars aligned for this. I really hope I get it! Finger's crossed.

Lastly, I just wanted to share these outfits I ordered for me and Leighton today. I am doing a mother/daughter photo shoot next month. I cannot wait to take pictures in these matching mother/daughter dresses. They are gorgeous!

Isn't this so cute! I am searching for one more outfit for the shoot, that will have us coordinating. I cannot wait to get these done with a photographer named Shelby Gerdes. Getting these done in April! I will definitely post them on here as soon as we get them done!

Well, just thought I'd share everything going on. Hope you enjoy! Everyone have a great week:)

How-to: Crayon Letter Shadow Box

As promised, here is my second creation how-to of the day. I am so proud of this one! It is not a thrift store creation though, I found the idea off Pinterest to make for one of my really good friends, Madison, and her bun in the oven, Mason. Her room colors were blue, yellow, and white, and I thought this would look adorable in a nursery. So enjoy this Pinterest project! I will go to the thrift store this weekend to get my next week's thrift store creation!

Step 1: Gather supplies.

You will need a picture frame shadow box like the one above, a bundle pack of crayons, a hot glue gun, a permanent marker of your color choice, scissors, and a white sheet of paper cut to fit the frame. I got my frame from Hobby Lobby, of course, for only $9.99 it was 50% off! The pack of crayons, from Hobby Lobby as well, were only $4 for like 20, 8-count packs with my 40% off coupon. That was a lot to say! You gotta find ways to save some how!

Step 1: Start with a white piece of paper cut to size, or the back of the frame in-slip, (which is what I used) basically the packaging staged picture that comes already in the frame, just turned over. Pick out the crayon colors you want to use, make a rainbow, all pinks, all blue, just whatever will work for the room.

Step 2: Cut the crayons to the size you want to construct a letter. I am making an M, this is how it looked when I first started the M. I used white, blue, and yellow crayons. Use a hot glue gun to glue the crayons onto the paper. Make sure the glue is on the crayon wrapper because the glue will melt the crayon wax.

Step 3: Continue to cut and shape the crayons according to the letter you are striving to make. Here is the full M!

Step 4: Hot glue the white paper to the back of the frame insert. This step is done because the crayons are so much heavier than the paper.

Step 5: Insert the picture into the shadow box frame! Close clasps.

Step 6: With a permanent marker, I wrote Mason's name cutely on the glass of the picture from the outside.

Step 7: You finished! I cannot get enough of this. I sent Madison a text message, but I still need to give this to her and her soon-to-be-here baby boy. She loved it! I am crazy about it. This project was so easy and so much fun to do! Good luck! Hope you enjoyed two how-to's in one day!

How-to:Shelf into Hodgepodge Picture Frame

Please forgive me for my absence. I have had the stuff for this item for a while, but of course life gets so crazy hectic being a mom, going to college, and working full-time in a job in Atlanta. I barely have been able to sleep the last two weeks. For my delay, I have a treat for today's blog, I am not posting one how-to but two how-to's. As soon as I get done with this posts I am posting a second one. It is soo adorable, cannot wait for you to this item and the next one!

A couple of weeks ago I bought the cake platter supplies and this awesome shelf you'll see below from the local Goodwill. I already loved the color, the minty green, and the shabby chic appeal. I also loved the price. I got this amazing shelf for $3.95! Yeah you read right. It was a great find. I knew exactly what easy way I was going to transform it into a chic household item. I transformed this dated shelf into a hodgepodge picture frame. Enjoy as I show you step by step how I made this adorable creation with around the house items!

Step 1: Gather supplies

Here is the incredibly ridiculously cute shelf! I would post the other supplies, but I literally just played this creation by ear, adding items to it as I went. I used a power drill, 5x7 pictures, a square cork board, tape, hot glue gun, a staple gun, thumb tacks, and fabric from my sewing box. Most all of it besides the power drill can be found at Hobby Lobby (you'll quickly learn I love that store.)

Step 2: Using the power drill on reverse, take the three screws out that hold the top part of the shelf together with the bottom. I am too chicken to use power tools so my dad helped me out with a lot of this project haha!

Step 3: Once the screws holding the top and bottom of the shelf are all out, it should easily come apart. Toss the top part of the shelf.

Step 4: Now with just the bottom of the shelf, on the back tape down 5 different 5x7 pictures in the holes that are just roughly smaller than 5x7 inches. You better believe I used pictures of Leighton!

Here is the back of the shelf with the five taped down pictures for you to see where each picture goes.

Step 5: I found this fabric in my fabric box. It was left over from a tote I made a while back. It fit perfect to make a backdrop for the shadow box area of the shelf. I used, well my dad did haha, a staple gun to put nails all around the fabric to make it tight. Trim the edges of unneeded fabric when it is all stapled down. 

Step 6: I repeated step 4 on the other side, mirrored to where the other fabric shadow box is. As you can see our plan went awry with the staple gun, it got jammed. With quick thinking, I thought of another solution! I used thumb tacks to put in the rest of the fabric. Trim unneeded fabric.

Step : With a glue gun you are now going to be gluing the square cork board onto the last open square hole. Line the outside square with glue and then place the cork board on top of it. It is okay if it does not fit the square perfectly. It works better if its too big.

Step 7: And you are finished! Step 7 is to turn that sucker over. Is this not adorable!?!!?!!? I am crazy about it. 

The finished product was used as the back drop to my craft desk, by propping it up. It has hooks on the back, so it can be hung up as well. I put some tickets where the cork board is using thumb tacks of course (they saved the day.) The fabric parts make a great shadow box for other little memoir items. Look how adorable my princess looks in those pictures, and you can also put small trinkets in those picture shadow boxes too. It is just one big giant memory board! I cannot wait to get my own place in about six months or so, so that I can prop this on the mantle or hang it up some where!